


Made to Last

by starbitz



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Family Issues, Fluff, M/M, Meet the Family, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, this will have a lot of cliches i am so sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23998165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starbitz/pseuds/starbitz
Summary: Jisung needed to prove Hyunjin and Seungmin wrong. Felix needed a date to his older sister's wedding. In roughly 5 minutes, they made a plan that absolutely had to last.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Felix, Hwang Hyunjin/Yang Jeongin | I.N
Comments: 18
Kudos: 50





	1. The Bet and the Plan

**Author's Note:**

> you've been warned: this is incredibly cheesy and cliche.
> 
> also, i always try to make the setting of my fics as accurate to the real world as possible if they take place in a modern setting, but this is going to have some inconsistencies with the school setting. this takes place in korea, of course, but i'm from america and i didn't realize that i had kinda blended the two systems until i had gotten too far to go back and fix it. my apologies.
> 
> anyway, i hope that you enjoy this first chapter! lots more to come :)

Jisung was in trouble. Outright fucked, to put it simply.  _ Apparently _ , there was this bet that he made with Seungmin and Hyunjin when they were 10 that he didn’t even remotely remember existing. The second he realized that he wouldn’t be able to get out of it, he honestly considered punching the both of them square in the face. 

“What the fuck do you mean a  _ bet _ ?” Jisung was flabbergasted. He crossed his arms and glared at them. “I don’t remember making any sort of bet like that in the slightest.”

“Well, the bet happened, and if you don’t have a significant other by the time you’re 18 you owe us each a gaming system of our choice,” Seungmin smiled wickedly, and Hyunjin nodded along with him. Jisung’s stomach lurched at the thought, yet his blood was still boiling.

“That’s ridiculous. No, I’m not falling for your stupid tricks again,” Jisung pointed his finger in their direction before he turned on his heel and walked away from them. He could hear them shouting and laughing behind him but he didn’t care to figure out what they were saying.

It was the summer before their last year of high school and yes, Jisung would be 18 soon. And no, he was  _ not  _ going to do that stupid bet.

According to Hyunjin, he and Seungmin had made a bet with Jisung that if he still had never dated anyone by the time he was 18 that he owed both of them a gaming system. He was absolutely positive that they were making it up, but he knew he wasn’t going to get out of it (“Besides, we always pay for your shit,” Hyunjin had argued. “It’s about time you pay us back,” Seungmin nodded firmly and Jisung just rolled his eyes exasperatedly).

He had liked maybe one person in his entire life and it was this one kid named Changbin that was in all of his music classes up until he graduated last year since he was a year older. They never really talked (“That’s a lie!” He could hear Hyunjin shouting. “You were freaking out that one time you guys talked for like, 10 minutes about some rapper you both like,” Jisung smacked him in response). Hyunjin had called him a wuss all while his arm was slung over his boyfriend Jeongin’s shoulder. Jisung just gave Hyunjin the finger. Jeongin was a year younger than the other three, and he had some sense to at least  _ seem _ like he pitied Jisung for having friends like Seungmin and Hyunjin. But he knew enough about Jeongin to know that that was futile thinking. 

“Jisung, you can’t walk away, this is your own house,” Seungmin yelled as Jisung dramatically threw open his own front door. He stopped in his tracks while Hyunjin and Seungmin laughed. 

“You just can’t get rid of us,” Hyunjin said and leaned back into the couch, crossing his legs. 

“I would if I could. That’s a promise,” Jisung scoffed, putting on a show of slamming his front door and locking it. He made his way back to the living room where his devilish friends were sitting and fell into the chair across from them. “If this bet is actually real, how come I don’t remember it? And why was it never mentioned again after the time you claim we made it?” Jisung whined as he accepted his fate He grabbed a pillow and shoved his face into it then slumped more into the couch. The pillow slid off him. “You know what? I don’t care if the bet’s real or not, I’ll find someone. I still have a few months.”

Or so he thought. He ended up forgetting about it since he pushed it to the back of his mind, hoping that Seungmin and Hyunjin would too since there was already a really good chance that the bet was fake in the first place. They’d played enough elaborate pranks on him in the years they had known each other, so he figured it was safe to say that this was a joke as well.

But it wasn’t, and Seungmin and Hyunjin brought it up again about a week before he turned 18, immediately making his heart drop. So he started brainstorming. He first went through a list in his head of anyone and everyone he found attractive at their school (the list honestly wasn’t very long), but before he could even get to the end all he could feel was his impending doom. Why the hell this was happening to him, anyway? He wondered why he was friends with Seungmin and Hyunjin and if they even cared about his well being; so he just stopped thinking about it altogether. Maybe he could avoid them and attempt to enjoy his 18th birthday without their bullshit. 

The week passed slowly and he really did try his best not to think about it. He still, deep down, hoped that Seungmin and Hyunjin were messing with him, and he held onto that. So on the day of his birthday, Jisung still hadn’t given any news of a significant other to either of his annoying best friends, so he avoided them. He literally took the longest way possible to his homeroom just so he wouldn’t see them, and he ran from his homeroom like a fucking idiot to eat his lunch in the family bathroom next to the gymnasium. He had no idea what to do and all that he honestly wanted at this point was to just disappear. 

So after the final bell rang, he figured he had to do something. Having to talk to Hyunjin and Seungmin was inevitable, as he had been ignoring their texts all day. They probably knew the situation he was in, the one that they had put him in, so he just chose to not look at his phone. 

Now, they were at the other end of the hall, walking towards the place the three of them usually met Jeongin at the end of the day. He knew they saw him. After all, he was frozen like a deer in the headlights in the middle of the hallway. 

Jisung floundered and glanced around the hallway, trying desperately to find someone who wouldn’t strangle him when he did what he was about to do. His eyes landed on Felix, who he vaguely knew from when they talked in their English class, and who happened to already be looking in his direction. Jisung strode towards him with resolve, and Felix looked very, very concerned, and confused. They barely knew each other, after all. He didn’t really have time to think, and he literally did not have any inkling of a clue of what he would say to Felix about a minute from now when he would ultimately have questions for him. He could feel Hyunjin and Seungmin’s eyes burning into the back of his head as he stood in front of Felix.

“Jisung, are you okay?” Felix asked, eyebrows knit in worry. Jisung suddenly felt bad, and he hoped that after all of this, they could at least still be friends. 

“I don’t have time to talk. Can I kiss you? Like, will you let me kiss you? Just this once. Please,” Jisung rambled nervously, sounding absolutely pathetic. He momentarily forgot that Felix was new to their school and that he was still learning Korean, so he opened his mouth to apologize and translate anything he didn’t understand into English, but the words died in his throat when Felix tenderly wrapped his arm around his waist. Jisung stared at Felix in dumb shock, and he chose to ignore the incessant thumping in his chest as Felix pulled their bodies flush together. 

“Tell me if I’m doing too much,” Felix said, a sly smile on his face. Jisung seemed to have lost the ability to speak, so he just clamped his mouth shut and nodded his head. Felix’s eyes twinkled as he searched Jisung’s face for any sign of discomfort with the position they were in. When he found none, Felix leaned in just the slightest bit more, and Jisung felt the tips of their noses brush each other before Felix pressed his lips against his. 

Jisung’s eyes widened momentarily, hyperaware that he probably looked beyond stupid with his eyes still open, so he slowly closed them. Felix’s lips were soft and warm, and they seemed to be moving against his with an element of experience that Jisung definitely did not have. The two times that he had ever kissed anyone were both in the same night when he was playing spin the bottle when he was like, 12 (one of them was Hyunjin, and the other was a girl that he didn’t remember the name of. That was a story for another time). Where the hell should he put his hands? Without really thinking, he placed one of his hands on Felix’s cheek and the other gently on his waist. A couple of seconds passed, and it honestly felt like the world had stopped around him, and he momentarily forgot what exactly he was doing and where he was. 

As Jisung was internally screaming, his face burning from pure embarrassment, he registered Felix pulling away and taking a slight step back. His eyes opened, and he could feel his heart pounding in his ears. Felix smiled shyly at him. “So I’m assuming that this is about your friends?” Felix cocked his head slightly in the direction of Hyunjin and Seungmin, who were stopped in their tracks, shocked, to say the least. Jisung followed his line of sight and tried his best not to let a satisfied laugh escape his lips (this seemed to convince them, for now). When he turned back to Felix, he watched as he pulled his lip between his teeth, and Jisung vaguely registered the fact that he was  _ just  _ kissing those lips. His head was so far in the clouds that he nearly forgot to answer Felix. 

“Yeah, I’m so sorry about that,” Jisung immediately started profusely apologizing. “I can’t believe that I brought you into this, I feel so fucking bad. I hope you weren’t disgusted by that. God, this is so embarrassing.”

Felix laughed lightly at Jisung’s obvious dilemma, putting a comforting hand on his arm. “It wasn’t disgusting, I promise. But I could definitely tell that you haven’t kissed many people before.”

Jisung gaped at him for a second, embarrassed (that seemed to be a recurring feeling today). He wanted to disappear. He wanted absolutely nothing more than to blink out of existence and be far, far away from his current predicament. He let out an aggressive sigh as his face continued to burn and tried desperately to suppress the disgruntled scream he was tempted to let out. Felix was laughing, and honestly, it was a really great laugh, it was cute even, but not in their current situation. Jisung put his face in his hands and convinced himself that hiding behind his hands until further notice was the only valid solution to this problem. 

Felix had other plans though, so he grabbed Jisung’s wrist and dragged him off to someplace where Hyunjin and Seungmin couldn’t watch their every move. That place happened to be the empty classroom that they had just kissed in front of, so Felix pushed Jisung into the room and shut the door behind him. “Okay, I want to hear the rest of this story. I feel like I have a right to know since I will now inevitably be a part of it,” Felix walked around him and pulled out two chairs in the middle of the classroom and turned them so they were facing each other. He didn’t seem to be teasing and Jisung was thankful for that. He plopped down into the one facing Jisung, who was still standing near the doorway. Felix chuckled at his distant expression; his eyes were unfocused. “I’ve got about as much time as it will take your friends to make it down to this end of the hallway, so you might want to make it quick.”

Jisung sighed and walked across the room, sitting down across from Felix. He was basically a stranger to him before this day (they were in the same homeroom, and they only really talked to each other during English) and he had to mentally prepare himself to tell this extremely embarrassing story. If he was completely honest, he had not expected Felix to even be remotely okay with what just happened, but now Jisung could probably even say that Felix was  _ enjoying _ this. It made him want to scream all over again. 

Jisung took a deep breath and launched into the story of how their stupid bet even came to be and spared no details (because what else did he have to lose anyway). He told Felix about how he had never dated anyone before and how it wasn’t really the reason the bet was made but apparently Hyunjin and Seungmin thought that he would be the last of their little trio to start dating. It was even more embarrassing that they were right. And now he had to come up with something before his birthday, or else he’d have to buy 2 game consoles, which was expensive, and he is fucking  _ broke _ . 

When he finished rambling out the story, he half expected Felix to laugh at him. He even braced himself for it, but it never came. Instead, after a moment of silence, he got, “Okay, I have an idea.”

Jisung gaped at him again  _ (good job Jisung), _ and choked out, “What?”

“We could fake date.”

If this were a movie, and Jisung had been taking a drink of his water, this would be the moment a spit take would happen. But the longer he sat there stunned to silence and actually thought about it, the more he realized that it could work out for him, but he didn’t want to make Felix feel like he had to do it. 

Jisung made a face as he thought of a way to respond. Finally, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “We could,” He ran a hand through his hair. “But I don’t want you to think that you have to because my friends are messed up.”

“Nah, I’d be cool with it. Besides, I brought it up, didn’t I?” Felix said, sitting back in his chair and waving a hand at him. “I also told my mum that I would bring a date to my older sister’s wedding, so I kind of need you as well,” Felix said the last part with a wicked grin, and Jisung suddenly had the image of Felix in a suit in his head, so he pushed that thought  _ very _ far into the back of his mind.

Jisung blinked at him. “Will we need like, rules or something? Like in that one movie that everyone watched? God, I can’t believe this is happening to me in real fucking life,” He put his face in his hands again.

Felix laughed. He had a cute smile. His eyes looked at something behind him before he looked back at Jisung and started speaking again. “If that’s what you want, we can. But we might have to do it later because I think I saw one of your friends standing outside the door.”

It was like Felix had seen the future or something because as if on cue, Hyunjin and Seungmin walked through the doorway, looking like they were about to say or do something embarrassing to Jisung. Felix smiled widely, genuinely, and leaned in a little more towards Jisung’s face. He was flustered, but he was also grateful that he was willing to be Jisung’s cover for the moment. 

“Hello there, Felix,” Hyunjin said, pulling out a chair for him and Seungmin across from the two of them and it literally just clicked with Jisung that he forgot that Hyunjin and Felix danced together. Felix took that chance to move his chair so it was directly next to Jisung’s, grabbed his hand, and laced their fingers together with ease. Jisung tried not to look at their hands and ignored the way his heart immediately started racing. He hoped that his internal crisis wasn’t visible on his face. Were they trying too hard? Hopefully not.

“I’m surprised I haven’t heard anything about you,” Hyunjin teased, a glint in his eye that Jisung did  _ not  _ appreciate. “Usually, Jisung talks my ear off about anyone and everyone he finds cute.”

Felix pulled their hands into his lap when he replied. “We haven’t been together for very long. He just told me he didn’t know when he wanted to tell the two of you,” Felix turned his head to look at Jisung, who nodded in agreement. They could pull this off. Probably. 

“Why did you look like you were panicking when you marched up to him then?” Seungmin asked, quirking his brow. Oh, Jisung was going to  _ kill  _ him.

“I was,” Jisung chuckled. Hyunjin had a look on his face that made it seem like he had caught him in a lie. Jisung and Felix might be lying, but they weren’t about to get caught. Especially by Hyunjin and Seungmin. “I realized that I forgot that I have a paper due tomorrow morning. He calmed me down,” Jisung turned to look at him with what he hoped was some sort of loving expression. Felix turned to look at him and mirrored the expression easily. It was a bullshit excuse, but if Seungmin and Hyunjin noticed, they didn’t say anything. 

It was kind of weird. Felix was eerily good at playing the part as his fake boyfriend even when he had brought it up himself just mere minutes ago. He couldn’t shake the feeling of relief he had, and he almost felt guilty, but he remembered that, for some reason, Felix seemed to be enjoying this. That fact still confused Jisung to no end. 

“Okay, if this interrogation is over, I would love to go celebrate my birthday with my boyfriend,” Jisung said, interrupting something Seungmin was saying. He glanced over at Felix to make sure he was okay with this, but he was met with a look of mild surprise. Their hands were still clasped together, so Felix squeezed his hand reassuringly. 

“Replacing us that fast, huh?” Hyunjin snorted jokingly. 

“You know I could never replace you guys,” Jisung laughed. “But go find  _ your _ boyfriend, Hyunjin, and leave me with mine. I’m sure Jeongin’s waiting for you guys anyway.”

With that, Jisung stood up and pulled Felix with him, and they made a beeline for the door. Once they were far enough down the hallway, Jisung spoke up, letting go of Felix’s hand. They kept walking towards the entrance of the school “You’re pretty good at acting, I see,” Jisung half-joked.

“And you managed to tell me everything but the fact that today is your birthday,” Felix stopped and crossed his arms. 

“I told you that I had to be dating someone before my 18th, didn’t I?”

“But you didn’t tell me it was today,” Felix smiled, paused, then said, “Mine’s tomorrow.”

Jisung gaped at him, again (he really needed to stop doing that). “Wait, seriously?”

“Yes, seriously,” Felix laughed.  _ Again _ , it was cute. 

The two of them lapsed into a semi-awkward silence as they still stood at the entrance of the school, neither of them knowing where the other lived. Jisung chewed on his bottom lip, wondering if he should actually invite Felix over since that was what he told his friends.

“Did you…actually, want to come over?” Jisung asked, making Felix look up from the ground. 

“I want to say yes, but I don’t want to intrude. Your family doesn’t even know who I am, do they?” He replied.

“Actually, it’s usually just my mom and me since my dad works a lot, but,” Jisung felt kind of awkward admitting it. His father wasn’t really around all that much and Jisung didn’t really like being around him, but he decided he would get into that some other time. “When you moved here I actually talked to my mom about you,” Jisung remembered the first day that Felix got there, he had gone home that night and told his mother about the new kid from Australia.

“Really?” Felix smiled. “What did you say about me?”

“I just told her I was excited to be able to speak in English to someone that isn’t Seungmin,” Jisung laughed. “But anyway, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I had you over if you wanted to come.”

“I’ll come,” Felix said, the smile never leaving his face. “If we’re going to fake date, I’ll need to meet your family sooner than later.”

After they decided that Felix was going to come to his house, they finally walked out of the school and into the cool September air. Jisung told Felix that his house was walking distance from the school. Throughout their 20 minute walk to Jisung’s house, they took turns asking each other random questions about the other. 

“Do you have any siblings?” Felix asked. 

“I have an older brother named Jiwon. He’s in college,” Jisung answered. He turned to Felix. “What about you? Do you have siblings?”

“I’ve got an older and younger sister. Riley’s 26 and Ollie’s 15,” He said with a smile on his lips. “Riley’s fianceé basically moved up here with us, he’s a super cool guy. I like him a lot.”

“I guess I’ll be meeting them soon then since you said you’re taking me to their wedding.”

“Yeah,” Felix laughed. “Since my birthday is tomorrow, you could probably meet them then. We don’t have to introduce ourselves as a couple yet, though.”

Jisung’s heart flipped at the mention of the word couple. “Yeah, no need to rush that. We still have things to figure out anyway.”

“Oh yeah, I guess it’s important to mention that the wedding’s all the way at the end of March,” Felix said. 

“Damn, that’s like...5 months away,” Jisung said (he counted the months with his fingers). Would they really be able to make this work for that long? He paused and changed the topic as his house came into view. “So you and Hyunjin dance together, right?”

“Yeah, I’m surprised they let me in even though I’m in my last year and it was after auditions,” Felix said thoughtfully, not missing a beat. 

Jisung snorted. “That must mean you’re the real deal then.”

“Nah, I’m not  _ that _ good,” Felix waved him off. “It’s just something I like to do.”

“There was this guy in the dance crew that Hyunjin almost idolized before he graduated 2 years ago, his name was Minho,” Jisung started. “He was incredible. Like, he would miss some practices because he was at dance classes outside of school and then he’d come back and help choreograph their routines like it was nothing.”

“Oh yeah, Hyunjin and some of the other guys were talking about him the other day,” Felix said. “I think they mentioned that he might come to the next performance.”

“Oh, for real?” Jisung asked as they approached his front door. “I’ll have to ask Hyunjin about it.”

Felix fell silent and pulled his bottom lip between his teeth as their conversation naturally died. Jisung opened the door and announced that he was home. Once the door was closed behind them and they were standing in the doorway, Jisung’s mother popped her head around the corner and saw that there was an extra person in their house. “Oh, hi! How are you?”

“Mom, this is Felix. He’s the new kid I told you about,” Jisung introduced him. 

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I hope I’m not intruding,” Felix said slowly, bowing to her. 

“Oh, the one from Australia! It’s nice to meet you too, Felix,” She smiled. “Would you like to stay for dinner? I’m almost finished cooking, and it’s Jisung’s birthday, which I’m sure you know by now.”

Felix beamed at her. “I would love that, thank you.”

With that, she disappeared from their view again and they slid their slippers on before walking towards the kitchen. The food smelled  _ really _ good. 

“I just realized how hungry I am,” Felix put a hand over his stomach. 

“You’re in luck,” Jisung grinned. “My mom always makes extra food so I can take it in my lunch, so there will be more than enough for the 3 of us.”

Jisung showed Felix where he would sit and immediately went into the kitchen to help his mother carry the dishes in. When Jisung got back to the table, Felix looked up at him. “Do you need any more help?”

“No, no,” Jisung assured him, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it. We got it.”

Within the next minute, they were all sitting around the table. There really was a lot of food for just the 3 of them, Jisung wasn’t lying. But it was his birthday after all. 

Jisung’s mother had always been welcoming to his friends so not a moment of dinner was awkward. “So where in Australia are you from?” She asked Felix once they were all sitting down.

“Sydney,” Felix answered simply, with a small smile. 

Then, “Are you liking it here so far?” 

“Yes, I am. I’m still learning the language though,” Felix replied shyly. Jisung thought it was endearing.

“You speak really well, I never would’ve known you just recently started learning it.” 

“Oh, really? That’s good to hear,” Felix said and Jisung noticed that his ears were starting to turn a little red. He changed the topic. “But enough about me, I want to hear some embarrassing stories about Jisung since it’s his birthday.”

Jisung immediately tried to protest against that suggestion, but his mother beamed and launched into one of the many embarrassing stories that she would eventually tell Felix tonight. She started with the story of one time when he and Hyunjin were both 8 and Jisung broke a window in their house when they were playing Wii bowling and he accidentally threw the remote and shattered the window. She spared no details, including the part where he felt so bad that he cried hard enough to make himself pass out on the floor, and Hyunjin had to go home. Jisung looked at her with an expression of pure horror and even after she saw his face, she continued telling stories. Felix was red in the face and hysterically laughing while Jisung was red in the face from embarrassment. The amount of embarrassment he had been feeling all day was really starting to take a toll on him.

That was really just how the rest of the night went, full of laughter as they sat around the table eating his mother’s amazing food. Jisung would be lying if he said he didn’t thoroughly enjoy his birthday this year more than other birthdays in the past, even if it was with someone he basically met today.

By the time Felix was grabbing his things to leave, the sun was already starting to dip below the horizon, and Jisung almost felt guilty about keeping him long enough to where he had to walk home in the dark. Jisung stood with him at the door. “Are you okay with walking home? It’s starting to get dark,” He asked. “I can walk with you if you want me to.”

“Yeah! You know, I don’t actually live too far from here. So I’ll be okay, I promise,” Felix smiled. “Besides, then you would have to walk home in the dark.”

“Okay, I believe you,” Jisung said. Then, “Oh yeah, you need my number so you can text me when you get home.”

Felix wordlessly handed Jisung his phone and Jisung gave him his. After a few seconds, they handed their phones back to each other and Jisung saw that Felix had put his name in as _ Lee Felix <3 _ . It brought a smile to his face. He should’ve done something like that in Felix’s phone. 

Jisung let out a deep sigh before speaking again. “Well, thank you for coming over on such short notice. I’m sorry, again, for everything that happened today,” He said the last part a little quieter. 

“Don’t worry about it, I promise you it’s no big deal,” Felix reassured him. “But I’m glad you invited me over, otherwise I never would’ve heard those stories from your mum.”

Jisung groaned and rolled his eyes. “I still can’t believe she would do that to me. And on my birthday? She’s crazy.”

“I’m sure my sisters will embarrass me just as much if you get to meet them tomorrow,” Felix said. “If that makes you feel any better.”

“It would only be fair that way,” Jisung teased, looking Felix in the eye. He laughed. 

Felix turned his head to look out the window and noticed that the sun was nearly gone by now. “I should probably get going. Happy birthday, Sungie. I hope you had a good birthday.”

Jisung tried really hard to ignore the way his heart stuttered at the nickname. “Thank you, and it was, I promise,” He smiled. “But yeah, you should. And don’t forget to text me when you get home. You better not die before I get to celebrate your birthday with you.”

“I will, I will,” Felix laughed, then paused for a second. He averted his gaze. Then, “Could I like, hug you? We’re going to have to get used to that at some point.”

“Of course, you don’t have to ask to hug me,” Jisung smiled softly at him. 

Jisung pulled him into a hug instead and they stayed like that for a few seconds before letting go of each other. “Now go, before you’re walking in complete darkness.”

“Okay, okay, I’m going,” Felix said, pulling his backpack onto his back from where it was sitting by the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jisung replied, opening the door for him. “Bye.”

After he shut and locked the door behind Felix, he let out another deep breath. His mother was just starting to clear the dishes off the table. She spoke up when she saw him. “Did you hug him goodbye?”

“Yeah, I did why?” Jisung gave her a curious look as he helped her pick everything up. 

She had a glint in her eye before she mirrored his expression. She spoke as she was walking towards the kitchen. “No reason.”

He rolled his eyes and followed her with the rest of the dishes. “Mom, I hug Hyunjin and Seungmin just as much so if you were thinking there is something more going on, you can stop.”

He had no idea why he was trying to cover up the fact that he and Felix were  _ technically  _ in a relationship because she would probably find out sooner or later anyway. And he knows that she’d be happy for him considering the positive reaction she had when she found out about Jeongin and Hyunjin. His father, though, not so much. He doesn’t know about Jeongin and Hyunjin, but a couple of years ago, when he and Seungmin were over, they were all sitting “a little too close to each other” on the couch, as he phrased it, and forced them to sit further apart. It was ridiculous. Jisung knew that at some point he would have to warn Felix about him because he had a habit of not announcing when he was going to be home from his business trips, and the last thing Jisung wanted was for Felix to get shit on by his father. 

When Jisung set the dishes down next to the ones his mother was about to wash, she turned to him after drying her hands and ran one of them through his hair. “Did you have a good birthday?”

“Yeah, Mom, I did. Thank you,” He smiled at her. He genuinely did have a good birthday. 

“I’m sorry that your brother and your father couldn’t be here today.”

“No, don’t apologize for that. They’re both busy, so I understand. Besides, you got to meet Felix and you guys seemed like you got along well.”

She laughed and turned to start washing all the dishes. “You’re right. How come you just started bringing him over now? Hyunjin and Seungmin don’t even talk to me as much as he did, and I just met him today.”

Jisung snorted. He was definitely going to tell them that she said that. “Does that mean you want me to have him over more often?”

“He’s welcome here whenever he wants to come over,” She answered. “You know I cook too much for the two of us,” After their short conversation, Jisung silently helped her clean up the rest of the kitchen. Once they were done, he grabbed his backpack from where he set it by the door and told her that he was going to be up in his room. She waved him off and once he was in his room, he dropped his backpack at the foot of his bed and flopped face-first onto it. 

Today was quite a day. He almost had to laugh at how much had happened today from the time the final bell rang, to now. Before today, he really hadn’t spoken much to Felix, but now they were in a relationship in his friends’ eyes. He was still trying to come to terms with it all. 

Jisung leaned over the side of his bed and pulled his laptop out of his backpack. He did have a paper to write, but it wasn’t due tomorrow morning like he told Hyunjin and Seungmin. 

After a couple of minutes of him staring at the blank document on his screen, he was saved when Felix’s name appeared on his phone screen. He quickly picked up his phone and unlocked it.

From: Lee Felix <3  
just got back :)

Jisung smiled to himself. It seemed like Felix liked emoticons. He sent a quick text back asking him if he was warming up now since the nights were gradually starting to get colder. The simple reply quickly turned into them texting for a lot longer than Jisung expected them to and by the time he fell asleep, the blank document he had opened was still left untouched.


	2. Felix's Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i'm back with another chapter!! i hope that i'll be able to update this semi-regularly. i've got big plans for this :)
> 
> this chapter introduces felix's siblings! both jisung and felix have siblings in real life but i felt weird using their real names so i changed them up just a bit. i also made up a random name for felix's older sister's fianceé.

Jisung didn’t realize that he had fallen asleep with his phone in his hand until his alarm went off the next morning. If he didn’t have an alarm set for the weekdays he had to get up for school, he definitely wouldn’t have been up on time. He quickly jumped out of bed and took a shower before he gathered everything he needed for school and shoved it haphazardly into his bag. He wasn’t necessarily running late, but today was Felix’s birthday and Jisung decided last night that he had wanted to be at school a little early so that he could be there before him. 

All of this was still so weird. They hardly knew each other but Jisung still felt obligated to be there for Felix because the latter had stuck his neck out for him yesterday. Still, though, they hadn’t talked much about how this fake relationship of theirs was going to work, but all Jisung was really focused on right now was convincing his friends that it was real. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be horribly awkward. It hadn’t really been so far, luckily. 

Once Jisung got to school, he looked at the clock and noted that he was there 15 minutes earlier than usual, but he wasn’t the first in his homeroom. One of the girls in his class looked at him with an expression of mild surprise, since he was notorious for barely making it to class on time, so he just ignored her and put a few things in his locker at the back of the room before sitting down at his desk. He fished his earbuds out of his pocket and put them in as he waited for Felix to get to class. 

After scrolling through Instagram for a mere 5 minutes, Felix walked into the classroom with an air of happiness surrounding him already, despite the fact that it was still fairly early in the morning. He made a mental note that _this_ was what happiness looked like in Felix. Bright eyes and a ghost of a smile etched into his features; overall he just seemed relaxed, content. When Felix finally noticed that Jisung was already there, he smiled and slid into the vacant seat next to him, though his desk was a few rows behind Jisung’s, whose seat was in the front row. 

“Happy birthday!” Jisung said. “You already look like you’re in a really good mood.”

“Thanks, Jisung,” Felix said. “I am since I woke up to breakfast that my mum made for me this morning, so it’s already been a good day so far.”

“That’s good, you deserve to have a good day today.”

Felix just smiled and eyed the student walking in, who sits in the seat he was currently sitting in. He turned back to Jisung and quickly asked, “You can come over to my place after school still, right?”

“Yeah, I don’t have anything going on today,” Jisung said. Then, with a dramatic wink, “But if I did, I’d cancel for you.” 

Felix laughed and started to get up. “So I’ll see you later then?”

Jisung nodded. “Yeah. Also, you should definitely start sitting with us at lunch,” he said. “It’s just Hyunjin, Seungmin, Jeongin, and I. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if you joined us.”

“Okay, I guess I’ll see you during lunch then,” Felix kept smiling and he put his hand over the top of Jisung’s as he got up. Jisung smiled back, endeared by the small gesture. It also seemed like he couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off his own face.

After Felix sat down, Jisung pulled out his phone to text in the group chat he was in with Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin to let them know that Felix was going to start sitting with them at lunch. He quickly turned his phone back off after sending it partly because he didn’t want to see any teasing messages from his friends, but also because the teacher walked in and he had to greet her along with the rest of the class. 

The rest of the classes leading up to their lunch break were painfully slow and Jisung couldn’t sit still in his seat as he waited to finally be dismissed. He was hungry, but he was also kind of both nervous and eager to see his friends while he was with Felix. Even though continuously looking at the clock didn’t do anything to speed up time, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of it. When the teacher finally dismissed everyone and their lunch break began, Jisung stood up quickly and stretched before walking to his locker at the back of the classroom to grab his lunch. Felix joined him at his side, holding his own lunch bag. 

They wordlessly walked toward the place Jisung and his friends usually eat lunch. Jisung felt like squirming, the silence was awkward and he was keenly aware of the way his shoes sounded against the tile hallway. Neither of them really knew what to say. 

Jisung turned to look at Felix, who then turned his head to show that he had his attention. “How are we supposed to convince them that we’re dating for real while we eat lunch? I’m pretty sure Seungmin and Hyunjin still don’t buy it after the stunt I pulled yesterday.”

Felix slung his arm over Jisung’s shoulder as the table Jeongin, Seungmin, and Hyunjin were sitting at came into view. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Just make sure you’re sitting next to me.”

Jisung just huffed, pursing his lips, and ignored the way that his heart was pounding in his chest. He had that sinking feeling of nerves in his stomach and honestly, he didn’t want to think about how they would react if they found out that Felix and Jisung were faking everything. Jisung stayed quiet until they made it to the table as he worked on steeling his nerves. 

“Hey fuckers, guess who’s birthday is today,” Jisung said, getting the attention of his 3 friends all while he was still under Felix’s arm. 

“Well, it’s not yours, that’s for sure,” Jeongin said. Smartass. Jisung noted that Jeongin was staring at the two of them as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. 

Felix and Jisung plopped down next to each other across from them, setting their lunches on the table. Felix withdrew his arm to get his food out of his bag and Jisung continued, unimpressed. “Yeah, no shit. It’s Felix’s,” He pointed his thumb at his fake boyfriend and grinned. 

“Oh, seriously?” Hyunjin asked, surprised. He moved his gaze from Jeongin to Felix. “So you’re just a day younger than Jisung?”

“I guess so,” Felix said, grinning as well. 

“Well, happy birthday Felix,” Hyunjin smiled. “If I knew sooner, we could’ve celebrated early with the dance crew since we don’t have practice today.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I don’t mind,” Felix smiled back. “But thank you anyway.”

None of them really gave Jisung and Felix a hard time, much to Jisung’s relief. There was a teasing glint in Hyunjin’s eyes when Felix slung his arm over Jisung’s shoulders again, but nothing more than some knowing looks from them. Conversation flowed easily between the 5 of them and Jisung learned a little more about Felix in that short time period as well. Felix, somehow, ended up showing them that he could make a noise that sounded like a mosquito, which left them all in a laughing fit. Jisung was both baffled and horrified. Needless to say, though, he fit right in with Jisung’s friends. 

“Oh yeah,” Jisung laughed to himself during a beat of silence, remembering what his mother said to him about Hyunjin and Seungmin the night before. He pointed at them as he told his little story. “Last night, after Felix left, I was talking to my mom and she literally told me that Felix talked to her more last night than you guys ever do anymore.”

Jeongin and Felix both laughed loudly and Jisung couldn’t help but join in when he saw Seungmin’s stunned expression. “Did she really say that?”

“I talk to her all the time when I’m at your house!” Hyunjin protested. 

“I guess she doesn’t think so then,” Jisung replied. “And yes, she did.”

“Fine then, I’m coming to your house on Saturday and I’ll change her mind,” Hyunjin declared. He then looked at Seungmin and Jeongin. “We haven’t had a game night in a long time anyway.”

“That’s true,” Jisung said and turned to Felix. “Would you want to come to my house for one of our infamous game nights? You’re like automatically invited now that you’re dating me.”

“Game night? Hell yeah, I’ll come,” Felix replied. 

“Nice, now you’ll get to watch me kick Seungmin’s ass in _Smash Bros_ ,” Jeongin grinned, getting a glare from the older. 

After that, their lunch break flew by a lot faster than it usually did. Jisung frowned at his phone once he realized it was nearly time for all of them to head back to class. All of their lunches were long gone by this point and they slipped into the easy topic of what they wanted to do after high school. Jeongin was tucked securely under Hyunjin’s arm as they listened to Seungmin talk about finally deciding on majoring in telecommunications in university and thinking about being a radio show host. The topic was really only brought up for Felix since the other 4 already knew each other’s answers to that question.

“Did lunch pass by faster than usual for you guys too?” Jisung asked, setting his phone back down and bringing the attention back to him. 

“Is it really already time to go back?” Seungmin said, checking his phone too. His eyes widened slightly when he saw the time.

“There’s your answer,” Jeongin said. Jisung heard Felix chuckle from beside him. Hyunjin withdrew his arm and they started to gather their things so they could head back to their respective homerooms. 

“Well,” Hyunjin started as the 5 of them walked away from the table. “We’ll see you at lunch tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow,” Felix nodded with a smile and turned to Jeongin. “It was nice meeting you.”

Jeongin smiled back at him. “You too. Happy birthday, Felix.”

Jisung slipped his hand into Felix’s as they started to walk back towards their classroom and even after they were out of sight, Jisung couldn’t convince himself to let go, he honestly didn’t want to, even though he was positive that his hand was sweating this much because he was still nervous. Still, he was kind of thrilled to see if this fake relationship would end up working out for them but he was also terrified, so nothing really made sense. At least everyone got along.

“You okay Jisung?” Felix asked, letting go of his hand once they were walking into their classroom. Jisung immediately snapped back into reality.

“Yeah, sorry. Just spaced out for a second,” Jisung said. Felix snorted. 

The rest of the day went by as slow as his classes before lunch did and he found that he was lost in his thoughts for most of his remaining classes. He was looking forward to meeting Felix’s family. He hoped that there was as much success with Jisung meeting Felix’s family as there was when Felix got to meet his mother yesterday.

When the teacher dismissed them at the end of their last class, Jisung turned in the direction that Felix was sitting and found that he was already looking in his direction. Felix smiled at him when their eyes met, to which Jisung returned with ease. He stood up to leave just as the rest of the class was. 

Once they were standing outside the school, much like they were yesterday, Felix asked Jisung if his mother knew that he was going straight to his house after school. He told him that yes, he told her and that she was okay with it. 

“My mom likes you a lot and she said she would love for you to come over more often,” Jisung said as they started their trek to Felix’s house. “I hope that your parents like me as much as my mom likes you,” he laughed.

“I’m sure that they’ll like you. My sisters too,” Felix said, looking up at the sky as the sun went behind a cloud. “They’re really easy-going people and they like to joke around a lot, my sisters especially.”

“Is your sister’s fiance going to be there?”

“I think so?” Felix wondered aloud. “He and my sister live together now, and he was there for my birthday last year when we were still in Australia.”

“It’s weird to think that a year ago you were still there,” Jisung said. It was even crazier that they were here, right now, together, under the circumstances that they were.

“I know,” Felix said thoughtfully, shoving his hands into his pockets. He stared ahead. “I wonder what all my friends down there are up to.”

“I’m sure they miss you a lot,” Jisung turned to look at his profile. “Do you talk to them still?”

“I try to, yeah. There’s not much a time change, but all of them have a lot on their plates,” Felix said dejectedly, but quickly covered his somber with a smile. “I do miss them, but now I have you here and it’s like an entirely new start to, well, whatever this is going to end up as.”

Jisung laughed, but he was right. They hadn’t had the time yet to have an actual conversation about their situation because not even 48 hours had passed since they _officially_ met. He reminded himself to ask him about it later. After a lull in their conversation, Jisung asked, “Where did you end up telling your mom you disappeared to last night?”

“I just told her that I was at a friend’s house for his birthday. She didn’t really question it,” Felix answered. “And I let her know that the same person would be coming over tonight.”

“Did you tell her anything else about me?” Jisung asked. 

“Did you want me to?”

Jisung shook his head quickly and looked down at his feet. “No. I was just curious I guess.”

They were both quiet again after that, neither of them speaking up until Felix mentioned that his house was up ahead. Jisung cringed inwardly at making it awkward. Was this awkward? It seemed like it.

Suddenly, they both heard the sound of a door slamming open up ahead. Felix let out a loud laugh when he located the source of the noise, which was a girl standing in the doorway of a house with a grin on her face. Jisung assumed that was his house, and that that was probably his sister. 

“Felix! Happy birthday!” she screamed dramatically from the door, her voice much too loud to cover the small distance between them. “Is this the friend you said was coming over? Jisung?”

“Yeah!” Felix responded back, his voice nearly as loud as hers. He picked up the pace, Jisung following quickly behind him. They were at the doorstep in mere moments. “Why are you screaming, though? You saw me this morning.”

“Am I not allowed to be enthusiastic? You’re 18, this is a big deal. Now you can drink!”

“I can technically, yeah. But back in Australia,” Felix laughed. “Good try, though. Is everyone home now?”

His sister scoffed and her gaze went over his shoulder to look at Jisung. His eyes widened the slightest bit when they made eye contact. She smiled at him and turned her gaze back to her brother. “Yeah, everyone’s home. You’re the last one, fashionably late as always. And even on your own birthday.”

“I am not _late_ Ollie, shut it,” Felix snarked, though there was no bite to his words. 

Before Ollie could say anything back, another person popped their head in, a woman. Ollie took that as her cue to leave. “Felix! Welcome back! How was school? Is this the friend you were talking about?”

“Yeah, Mum. This is Han Jisung, he’s in my homeroom.”

Jisung, upon realizing that he was talking to Felix’s mother, straightened his back and held out his hand. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”

She took his hand with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you too, but you don’t have to be so formal! I’m glad Felix brought you over, he hasn’t really had anyone over since we moved here.”

Jisung offered a warm, genuine smile at her words, but he didn’t quite know how to respond. He decided on an easy, “Thank you for having me.”

“Come, come. The food’s almost done,” she beckoned the two of them to come further into the house and Jisung shared a glance with Felix. They both set their bags down by the door and followed her.

“Your mom’s really friendly,” Jisung said with an airy laugh. 

“Yeah,” Felix chuckled. “It can be kind of overwhelming sometimes, can’t it?”

Jisung only nodded. Felix’s mother started talking again. “I heard from Felix that your birthday was yesterday! What a small world, that you two ended up meeting each other when you’re so close in age.”

“Mum, stop interrogating his friends, will you?” another woman said. Jisung was already looking at her when she turned to face him. “Jisung, right? I’m Riley, Felix’s older sister.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jisung smiled. So this was the sister that was getting married. She was really pretty.

Needless to say, Felix’s family was very welcoming. He knew that they were nice, Felix told him that, but he wasn’t expecting them to be _this_ welcoming. He felt awkward because he really was still a stranger to Felix, let alone to his family. Still, the way that they were was already keeping Jisung at ease. It made him miss the times when he was younger and his brother and his father were still consistently around. 

Jisung was led to the large dining table by Riley and Felix’s mother, where a man that Jisung believed was Felix’s father and some other man was already sitting and listening to Ollie tell them about school that day. Felix had mentioned that his sister’s fianceé would be there, so that was probably him. There were just enough seats for the five-person family plus one more, so there was a chair that didn’t match the rest that had been pulled up. There were a bunch of plates of food on the table, all for the occasion of Felix’s birthday. 

Felix’s mother walked back in the direction of the kitchen and came back with another plate. After she set it down, she heaved out a content sigh at the sight of the table full of food. “I haven’t cooked for this many in a long time,” she said. 

“It looks and smells really good,” Jisung said easily. “Thank you for the food.”

“My pleasure, Jisung. You can go ahead and take the seat to Felix’s left and help yourself,” she smiled. Then, before she turned back around to head towards the kitchen again, she said: “Felix, make sure to introduce him to your father.”

Felix stared after her and sighed, exasperated. “She’s making such a huge deal that I brought you over here because I had yet to bring a friend over since we moved here.”

Jisung laughed at him. “Hey, at least you only have to formally introduce me to them once.”

“That’s true.”

“And I’m honored that I’m the first friend you brought over,” Jisung dramatically threw his hand over his heart. Felix shoved him. 

He did end up eventually getting introduced to Felix’s father and Riley introduced him to her fianceé, Namjae. Jisung noted that he fit really well into this family just after seeing the way that he interacted with Riley’s siblings and parents. And Jisung was supposed to be Felix’s date to their wedding, which still kind of blew his mind. 

Throughout dinner, they talked and they laughed, about school and work, and just as Felix predicted, his sisters teased him. Relentlessly. Riley told a story about a different birthday (Jisung thought she said it was his 9th) and the second she mentioned which birthday she was talking about, Felix put his head in his hands. She could hardly get through the story without laughing. One of their relatives bought him roller skates for his birthday that year and he was riding them around during his party and kept losing his balance. She explained that one time his feet were gradually getting further and further apart and he ended up ripping his pants in front of everyone at the party because of the fact that he was practically in a split. Jisung laughed along with the rest of his family, minus Felix, who was still hiding his face with his hands. Part of Jisung felt bad for laughing, but he remembers Felix laughing at him yesterday so the other part of him felt this was the appropriate revenge.

“God, I wish I could remember that,” Ollie said, breathless from laughing. 

Sometimes, though, Jisung found himself a little confused. All of the people in this room besides him had lived in Australia until this year so he found himself just nodding and smiling along to most of the stories. He couldn’t tell if it was because Felix had noticed that he was just nodding along, but there were a few times that he would purposely change the topic to something that the two of them could about. 

Unlike for Jisung’s birthday, because it was just him and his mother this year, he insisted to her that they didn’t need to have any sort of cake. Felix’s family, however, went crazy. He was turning 18, which is technically a pretty big deal, so they got him a fairly extravagant cake, and his parents, as well as both Riley and Namjae, bought him gifts. 

“Before you open your gifts, we want you to open all of the cards,” Felix’s mother said after pushing the empty plates of cake aside, setting down a small pile of cards in front of him. Felix stared at them, surprised. 

“Wait, why are there more cards than -” he cut himself off once he saw the name on one of the envelopes and his mouth fell open. “No way. They sent cards?”

“They came in the mail a few days ago, it’s a good thing that you didn't check the mail or it would have ruined the surprise,” she grinned. 

Felix didn’t say anything as he began opening one of the cards. Jisung peered over his shoulder at the return address as Felix read through the card. Sydney, Australia. With a quick glance at the other cards in the pile, the only other ones with stamps on them all seemed to be from Australia. The rest were from people that were currently in the room. 

Felix was quiet as he read. Jisung didn’t want to intrude on the words that were written for him by his old friends, so he just studied his features as he reacted to the words on the card. There were little quirks at the corners of his mouth every once and a while and he didn’t miss the way that Felix’s eyes would give away the longing he felt for his friends back in Australia. Jisung couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be so far away from his friends. He had had Hyunjin and Seungmin close to him for pretty much his entire life.

It was so quiet at the table as Felix read (except for the sounds of an envelope being torn open), even with 7 people in the room. Jisung felt like he was eavesdropping on an important conversation or witnessing an altercation that wasn’t meant for his eyes. The cards seemed to mean a lot to Felix and Jisung had a vague feeling that if Felix were alone, he would be reacting a little differently.

“I’ll have to text them tonight,” Felix said quietly, setting the last card from his friends down. He reached for the one from Namjae next, flipping it to face the latter, showing him exactly which card he was about to read, a grin on his face. 

Jisung felt the change in the mood when Felix began reading the cards from his family, he was openly smiling and thanking everyone profusely once he opened their gifts. Just moments ago, the air surrounding the family had been one of nostalgia, probably, maybe even with a twinge of sadness. But it wasn’t like he wasn’t grateful for the cards from his friends back in Australia, he was _ecstatic_. He was simply reminiscing as his eyes took in the words from the people he hadn’t seen in nearly a year. Jisung figured that all of them missed Australia just as much as Felix did. Again, Jisung had no idea what that felt like, but he was determined to be there for him.

Once Felix had opened all the gifts and cards from his friends and family, Riley and Namjae announced that they were going to head back to their apartment. To Jisung’s surprise, Riley gave him a hug as she was walking out the door. “Hope I get to see you again sometime!” she had said, Jisung assured her that she would. Namjae simply shook his hand with a smile, agreeing with his fiancée, who was waiting for him just outside the door. Felix truly had a great family.

“Come with me up to my room, I want to put some of this stuff away,” Felix said moments later, cocking his head in the direction of the staircase. His hands were filled with all of the cards and the little gifts from everyone. Jisung didn’t hesitate to help carry some of it.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get you anything,” Jisung said as he followed Felix up the stairs. 

Felix shot him a weird look over his shoulder and laughed. “Are you kidding? Honestly, there wasn’t really any possible way that you would’ve known to go and get me a present considering we pretty much met yesterday. Besides, I didn’t get you anything yesterday either, so in a way, we’re even.”

Jisung just blinked at him so Felix decided to continue. “I have an idea. How about, since we’re supposed to be boyfriends, that we randomly get gifts for each other? That way we can make it up to each other.”

Jisung grinned at the suggestion. They both walked into Felix’s room. “That’s perfect. That will make this even more convincing.”

“I guess maybe expect something to be brought to you on this game night I was invited to,” Felix winked after setting his things on his bed. 

“That soon? Shouldn’t we like, wait? Or make our rules or whatever? Is that still happening?” Jisung blabbered, setting Felix’s things down as well. 

“If you want to make rules or something, yeah it’s still happening. I guess I can see the appeal in having ground rules. It makes sense,” Felix shrugged. He sat down on the foot of his bed. Jisung sat down next to him. “What, did you want me to actually surprise you with a gift, like a real boyfriend?”

Jisung snorted and looked down at his hands. “When did I say that?”

“You didn’t,” Felix grinned and leaned into his space. Jisung wasn’t looking at him, but he could feel his breath on his cheek and his ear. “But since I’m your fake boyfriend, I’ve been taking mental notes about you. One thing I’ve noticed is that you’re really fun to tease.”

Jisung's mind was buzzing and his face was hot. He gently shoved Felix away as he laughed. “Oh, fuck off.”

They lapsed into a comfortable silence as Felix fingered through his cards again. “I still can’t believe that some of my friends down in Australia actually sent me birthday cards,” he said, a bit breathless as if he were still in awe from that fact.

“Why wouldn’t they? There’s no way that they could forget about you. I’m sure they miss you,” Jisung said. Felix was quiet again, thoughtful. Jisung decided to speak again. “What are your friends like?”

“They’re all insane,” Felix chuckled, though his expression was soft. “But they are some of the most supportive people I have in my life. Both of my hobbies and me as a person.”

“You miss them a lot, don’t you?” Jisung said. “I could tell from the way you reacted to the cards. They sound really nice.”

Felix was quiet for a brief moment. He kept getting lost in thought. “I do,” he said. “And they are. I have to make sure that I text them tonight. So you have to remind me if I forget.”

Jisung laughed lightly. “Okay, okay. I will.”

“How did you feel about tonight?” Felix asked next, changing the topic.

Jisung tilted his head a bit, raising a brow. “What?”

“At dinner. With my family.”

“Oh! They’re all really great, really welcoming. I’m glad I got to meet all of them,” Jisung said. “And I got to meet the couple whose wedding you’re taking me to as your date.”

“Yeah,” Felix said. “Do you think we can pull it off?”

“You’re the one who came up with this idea, I feel like I should be asking you that,” Jisung laughed. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, though.”

By now, it was beginning to get dark outside. Jisung knew that he should probably head home soon even though his curfew was still a little while away, but for some reason, he suddenly felt too awkward to break the silence to tell him. He was staring at his hands again. It was comical how the second they were alone, they could hardly think of anything to talk about or they would quickly run out of things to talk about. Just last night, they talked literally until Jisung passed out with his phone. Now, somehow, neither of them had anything to say. It was weird. 

“I should probably head out soon,” Jisung said to break the silence. He pulled his phone from his pocket and stared at the time on the screen. It was already well past 8 and Jisung didn’t know when his mother wanted him home, so he figured it would be a good idea to get home soon. He also didn’t want to overstay his welcome.

“Oh wow, it’s already getting dark,” Felix said, standing up. Jisung followed suit. “That’s probably a good idea.”

Once the two of them were downstairs, Felix’s mother stopped the two of them when they were on their way to the door. “Jisung, thank you so much for coming over,” she said. “It was nice that Felix finally brought one of his friends over, and for his birthday, no less.”

“Thank you for having me,” Jisung replied. “Tonight was really fun. Thank you so much for cooking.”

“Pleasure’s all mine. And you can thank me by letting me cook for the two of you again,” she smiled. “But make sure you get home safe, Jisung.”

“I will. Thanks again,” Jisung said. She waved and walked away to return to what she was doing. 

“Seriously, though, thanks for coming tonight,” Felix said once she walked away, a smile on his face.

“It’s the least I could do,” Jisung said. Then, after a brief moment of deliberation, with his face warm, he said, “Now give me a hug before I leave.” 

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you for one? It’s my birthday, after all.”

Jisung laughed. “Do you want one or not?”

Felix didn’t answer his question and instead just wrapped his arms easily around Jisung’s shoulders. Jisung would be lying if he said he didn’t thoroughly enjoy the experience of being held by Felix. It was new, but Jisung nearly found himself weak at the knees from how gentle he was, both with his touches and as a person. He looped his arms around Felix’s waist and they held each other for a few seconds. 

When the two of them separated, Jisung honestly wanted to scream (yet another recurring feeling he had in the past two days). He felt like one of those middle school girls in movies where you could visibly see their internal freak out after being with or doing something with the person that they liked. Hopefully, he didn’t look like that. _That would make this unbearably awkward,_ Jisung thought. 

“Text me when you get home,” Felix said as Jisung slipped his shoes back on. 

“I will don’t worry,” Jisung said, pulling his backpack over his shoulders. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

*

“I’m home,” Jisung announced once he was through his front door. His mother was watching TV in the living room. After he took his shoes off, he walked towards the noise and it wasn’t his mother sitting on the couch, but his father. Jisung stopped abruptly at the foot of the stairs when he realized it was him. “Dad? I didn’t know you were coming home today.”

“My business trip wasn’t as long as I expected,” he answered simply, turning to look at his son. 

“Oh, okay,” Jisung said. He wasn’t all that surprised by the lackluster response. “I’ll be up in my room, then.”

“Why are you home so late?” his father asked, completely ignoring Jisung’s statement that he was just about to leave the room. 

“Mom didn’t tell you? I was just at a friend’s house for his birthday,” _Mine was yesterday, and you missed it._ Jisung thought bitterly. “I went there right after school.” 

“Remember that your curfew is 10 pm,” he said. Jisung did, indeed, remember his curfew, but his mother didn’t enforce it as harshly as his father did. Besides, it wasn’t even 10 pm.

Jisung was quiet for a second, dumbfounded. He took his phone from his pocket. “I know, and it’s only 9:15. I’m home on time.”

“Don’t get short with me, Jisung. I am just reminding you.”

“I’m not getting -” Jisung stopped himself and took a deep breath. He still needed to text Felix, he didn’t want to deal with this right now. “Okay, Dad. I’m going to my room. I’ll probably go to bed soon, so I’ll see you...later.”

“Goodnight,” he said. He was as unbearable to talk to as ever. 

Jisung made his way up to his room and dropped his bag at the end of his bed before falling face-first onto it. His father always came home unannounced. It wasn’t technically a problem by any means since he lived here too, but he would still just show up and act like he wasn’t just on a business trip for a week or more. Like, he would boss Jisung around like he had been there the whole time, and he never really asked how Jisung was doing. 

There was a knock on his door and he turned his head to look the same time it opened. His mother was standing in the doorway. “Did you talk to him?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” he said. “I had no idea he was going to be home tonight.”

“I didn’t either,” she sighed, letting herself into his room. “I was going to let you know, but I wanted you to keep enjoying your night since he is still as irritated as he usually is.”

Jisung sat up. He didn’t have much to say. 

“You tell me about your day tomorrow, yeah? I’m going to go to bed,” she said softly. 

“Okay,” Jisung said.

“Make sure you get some rest, don’t stay up late again,” she smiled slyly. “You fell asleep with your light on last night.”

Jisung laughed lightly. “Okay, I won’t. Goodnight, Mom.”

“Goodnight, Jisung.”

Jisung fell back onto his bed once she was out of the room and was finally able to pull out his phone to text Felix. He told Felix that he was home and reminded him to text his friends tonight before he forgot. Felix thanked him.

After he did a bit of his homework and brushed his teeth, he promptly passed out, his mood a little damper than it was just mere hours before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope u enjoy this update!! like i said, i hope to be able to update this semi-regularly. chapter 3 is already in the works! 
> 
> thank u guys for ur comments on the first chapter, i am so happy to hear that people are enjoying it. i hope that u guys stick with me and the development of this story. thank u so much for ur support <3

**Author's Note:**

> when i was editing this chapter i honestly could NOT believe that i wrote this with my own two hands. i've never written anything this fuckin cheesy before


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